Pictures perfect at Gloucestershire fair

Historic paintings of Gloucestershire and Bath, plus a wide range of vintage, Mid-Century Modern and period furniture will be a major attraction at The Cotswolds Decorative Antiques & Fine Art Fair at Westonbirt School, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire from 12th – 14th August.

The popular summer event takes place in the charming setting of Westonbirt House, now a private school, and offers a wide variety of pieces for collectors, home furnishers, interior designers and anyone looking for unusual decorative items.

With more than forty-five exhibitors, it offers exhibits from £20 to more than £10,000 in price. A view of Bath as Jane Austen would have seen it will be a feature on the stand of exhibitor Derek Newman Fine Art from Gloucestershire, who specialises in watercolour paintings and drawings. Seen from a distance, the Abbey and outline of the city can be seen, circa 1800, in a charming depiction. Whilst the artist is unknown, it is clearly by a professional painter from the time. This rarity is priced at £695.

Derek Newman also has a watercolour painting of the well-known Painswick Beacon on the edge of the Cotswold Escarpment above the Severn Valley by the well-respected artist Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942). This dates from 1915 when Steer stayed nearby in Painswick. It is priced at £1,750.

Also among the highlights of the fair will be a charming Regency doll’s house on the stand Elham Antiques. At 63cm high, early doll’s houses like this are always sought after. The ticket price is £695. Elham Antiques also have a range of Irish country furniture, mirrors, garden statuary and a very decorative painted Hungarian mule chest dating from the 19th century, priced at £895.

Among the many regular exhibitors will be Jo Brayshaw with decorative lighting, glass, ceramics and furniture; Melody Antiques specialising in English and Welsh country furniture; Cherie & Michael Todd have country pieces and domestic bygones; Steve Bentley Decorative Arts & Lighting return with a collection of Arts & Crafts furniture, silver, brass and accessories; Not Wanted On Voyage offer an eclectic range of unusual decorative furniture, mirrors and collector’s pieces; Paul Burnett Antiques & Interiors specialise in decorative accessories for the home; Brian Ashbee & Wesley Wotruba show 19th and 20th century furniture and objets d’art; and Scandinavian by Design specialise in Mid-Century Modern furniture and lighting.